Rehman Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham introduced a Private Member’s Bill to Parliament after hearing from his local welfare group Animals Lost and Found Kent.

The Cats Bill calls for a change to the Road Traffic Act (1988) making it a legal requirement that any driver involved in an accident resulting in injury or death to a cat must to stop and give information or report the accident to the police.

At the moment, the Act applies to dogs, horses, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys and mules but not deer, cats, badgers or foxes.

Life-saving change

Co-founder Mandy Lowe said: “Our primary goal is to make cat deaths on the road reportable, so the cat gets the opportunity for vet treatment as soon as possible. It would save thousands of lives.”

She added that many cats that could have otherwise survived die “slowly and painfully” because no one stopped to help.

The campaigners also want councils to routinely scan animals found at the roadside for microchips so that owners can be notified if their pet is hit by a car.

Campaigners want owners to have their pets microchipped and for councils to routinely check any cats found at the roadside for identification. (Picture: Shutterstock)

So far 50 councils across the UK have committed to scanning cats and notifying owners.

230,000 deaths

There are an estimated eight million pet cats in the UK and around 230,000 cats are killed as the result of a road traffic accident every year, according to the most recent statistics available, published by the insurer PetPlan in 2006.